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I have some clipping in a track I'm working on. I'm watching a frequency analysis as it plays and in the parts where it clips it's not hitting the red, not even coming close to it really. It's not in any of the individual audio bits, I'm just getting it when I put them together. It is possible that I'm overloading my CPU? What could be the culprit?

It's the combination of your tracks. Two maxed-out tracks played together will clip. You need to find the "master" level in your interface-- that will probably be clipping and in the red when you play all the tracks together. Lower the master level and it should go away. Or add some compression/a gate to the master bus. Or lower the level of your individual tracks until the master level no longer clips.

This is a natural problem you have to tackle during mixing. It's a sign that you're progressing in your skills.

JB

jb wrote:This is a natural problem you have to tackle during mixing. It's a sign that you're progressing in your skills.

Why, thank you, JB.

But I'm going to have to say that I was actually referring to the master level when I say it's not going into the red at any point, that's why it's so weird.

Back off the levels until you don't hear the clipping. Use your ears instead of your eyes. Meters are lame indicators of what's really going on...a tool but not a reflection of truth.

Blue has some straight talk about this.

Do your meters let you choose "RMS" vs. "Peak Level" metering?

You need to use the second to detect digital overs (i.e. clipping.) The first just shows the average level of your mix.

And further to roymond's point, if you're happy with the way it sounds, then slap a limiter on the master bus and be done with it. The limiter will guarantee nothing tries to go into the red.

It could also be clicking, not clipping, if you have latency issues with your computer recording. I occasionally have a problem with my admittedly cheap and crappy sequencer when anything not recorded in it, and imported, when played back tends to clip, regardless of volume.

yeah, what j$ said. also, if you have any FX on the tracks, look at the input volume on them. plugins are often a hidden source of clipping.

for mixing, i usually just max my buffers out. also make sure you've defragged your hard drive recently.

Also, record your tracks at a lower level and turn up your monitors.

Ken

blue wrote:yeah, what j$ said. also, if you have any FX on the tracks, look at the input volume on them. plugins are often a hidden source of clipping.

That was most of it, I think. I used a different reverb plug-in and got much less clipping, though there's still a little bit poking in almost inaudibly (to me) every now and then. Muchas gracias.

blue wrote:for mixing, i usually just max my buffers out.

What does that mean, exactly?

also note that you could do some EQing to get it out. You might just be maxing certain frequencies.

a bebop a rebop wrote:

blue wrote:yeah, what j$ said. also, if you have any FX on the tracks, look at the input volume on them. plugins are often a hidden source of clipping.

That was most of it, I think. I used a different reverb plug-in and got much less clipping, though there's still a little bit poking in almost inaudibly (to me) every now and then. Muchas gracias.

blue wrote:for mixing, i usually just max my buffers out.

What does that mean, exactly?

when you open the plug-in, it should have an 'input volume' or 'gain' somewhere. turn that sucker down if it's clipping.

maxing out buffers means .. just that. your recording / playback devices should have settings somewhere for how much audio they buffer. buffering creates latency, but i don't care about latency much when i mix. having too few buffers for converting and playing the amount of audio present in the amount of time the playback device has available will cause what sounds like clipping. somewhere in your hardware settings there has to be something called "buffers." increase it if you are hearing distortion while everything else looks correct.

Alright, I think I have it ironed out, looks like there was a bit of a frequency conflict in the 200 Hz area. Thanks for the help, blue and Hoblit 'specially.

a bebop a rebop wrote:Alright, I think I have it ironed out, looks like there was a bit of a frequency conflict in the 200 Hz area. Thanks for the help, blue and Hoblit 'specially.

it's also good to remember that individual tracks can clip while mixing.

(make sure your drums never top -7db, and all will be well)